Banning Police Seeking Suspect in Officer Assault at High School Football Game

News Staff

August 29, 2018 9:41 AMAugust 29, 2018 5:11 PM

Police Wednesday sought the public’s help in identifying one of two suspects who assaulted a school resource officer during a football game last week at Banning High School.

The officer, whose name was withheld, was called to the high school around 10:45 p.m. Friday “regarding a disturbance between several patrons attending the game,” according to Banning police.

Investigators said video taken at the scene showed a 17-year-old boy, who police allege was “the instigator of the disturbance,” grab the officer around the waist and body slam him into the pavement near the football field. The boy, whose name was not released because he is underage, was detained by witnesses and later arrested on suspicion of assault on a peace officer with great bodily injury, according to the Banning Police Department.

Shortly after the assault, which sent the officer to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, a second suspect grabbed the victim by the throat while he was on the ground, but bystanders pulled him off the officer, police said.

Police need help identifying that suspect, described as a “dark skinned white male or possible light skinned Hispanic male” who had what appeared to be a tattoo on the inside of his right wrist.

Investigators said they spoke with someone initially called a “person of interest” in the case and who can be seen in video footage, but determined he was not involved in the assault. Police said that person was “assisting school staff in apprehending the suspect in the case.”

Investigators say they have amassed “several videos” during their investigation, but “due to the quality of the videos, it has made it difficult to get a clear video of the whole event.”

Any witnesses or persons with additional video of the incident were asked to contact the Banning Police Department at (951) 922-3170.